Mounting means for motor-blower unit



June 27, 1967 D. L. COLE MOUNTING MEANS FOR MOTOR-BLOWER UNIT Filed Sept. 13, 1965 INVENTOR. DONALD L. COLE BY of H \S ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,327,610 MOUNTING MEANS FOR MOTOR-BLOWER UNIT Donald L. Cole, Finchville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 486,930 8 Claims. (Cl. 98115) The present invention relates to a vibration absorbing mounting means for a motor-blower unit and particularly to a quick-connect and disconnect mounting means for such a unit for use in a kitchen ventilating hood.

Ventilating hoods are commonly installed over kitchen ranges or assembled over built-in wall ovens or eye-level ovens. In all instances they handle grease and vaporladen hot air formed during various cooking operations so that the air must first be filtered before reaching the motor-blower unit and being exhausted to the outside of the kitchen. It is necessary to be able to remove the motor-blower unit for cleaning and for servicing. The speed of the motor and blower wheel creates vibrational noises of a high order. These noises are amplified when the motor-blower unit is fastened directly to the metal shell of the hood construction. Preferably, a vibration dampening means such as rubber pads or springs are used to isolate the motor-blower unit from the hood shell. However, these standard mounting methods do not lend themselves readily to rapid removal and replacement of the motor-blower unit.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a motor-blower unit with a resilient mounting means having a quick-connect and disconnect facility with a supporting structure.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a quick-connect and disconnect mounting system for the motor-blower unit of a kitchen ventaliating hood.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a resilient suspension system for a motor-blower unit of a ventilating hood where the unit may be assembled or disassembled without the use of tools.

The present invention, in accordance with one form thereof, is embodied in a resilient mounting means for a motor and blower unit where there is a housing surrounding the blower and hanger means attached to the top of the blower housing as well as a stationary sup porting member from which the unit i to be suspended. The hanger means has several loosely carried bolt members each supporting a spring for carrying the weight of the unit. The supporting member includes a seat for each bolt and there is a bolt-entrance slot for each seat.

My invention will be better understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an eye-level oven having installed on the top thereof a ventilating hood that is to embody the motor-blower unit mounting means of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a right-side, cross-sectional, elevational view on an enlarged scale of the top portion of the oven of FIGURE 1 and the ventilating hood mounted on the top thereof, and showing in detail the resilient mounting means for the motor-blower unit;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2 and showing in detail the resilient mounting means for the right side of the motorablower unit; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 and showing the top portion of the spring-mounted bolt seated within the supporting member from which the motor-blower unit is suspended and giving a better showing of the front-side entrance slot to the seat.

Turning now to a consideration of the drawing and in particular to FIGURE 1, there is shown a kitchen ventilating hood 10 assembled on top of an eye-level electric oven 11. Although this hood is shown as an integral part of the oven it should be appreciated by those skilled in this art that the resilient mounting means of the present invention for the motor-blower unit 12 of FIG- URE 2 has general utility in the art of air handling devices.

The particular oven 11 shown in an electric oven having at least one metal sheathed resistance heating element 13 supporting adjacent the top wall of a box-like oven liner 14 as is seen in FIGURE 2. The cooking cavity is formed by providing an oven door 16 for the oven liner 14. Thermal insulation 17 surrounds the oven liner for retaining within the oven liner the heat generated by the heating means. Usually this type of eye-level oven 11 is mounted over a cooking surface, accordingly the oven is designed with vertical air channels 15 leading from the underside of the oven up the side walls on the outside of the insulation 17 so that air from the cooking surface may be drawn by the motor-blower unit 12 into the hood 10 and from there to be exhausted from the kitchen.

The ventilating hood 10 comprises a metal shell 20 with an open bottom wall for encompassing the top of the oven 11 and an open front wall 21 which is adapted to be closed by a movable shutter 22. This shutter is capable of sliding movement between a closed position within the hood shell, as is shown in FIGURE 2, and an open position as shown in FIGURE 1. This movable shutter 22 is in effect a box-like structure with an open back wall and an open bottom wall having a grease filter 24 mounted over the opening therein for receiving air rising from the oven cavity when the open door is left slightly ajar as during broiling operations. When it is desirable to draw air only from beneath the oven the shutter 22 is closed and the suction of the motorblower unit draws air up the air channels 15 at the two sides of the oven liner. The shutter 22 is supported on a pair of side rails 25 that are slidably mounted beneath thetop wall portion of the hood shell 20. The top wall of the shutter 22 is provided with suitable openings for receiving fastening screws 26 therethrough which are joined to the rails 25. Hence, it will be understood that it is an easy matter to remove the shutter from the rails 25 for opening the front of the hood and gaining access into the interior of the hood shell 20.

Looking at FIGURE 2, the rear of the hood shell 20 has walls forming a plenum chamber 28. A forward-most wall 29 of the plenum chamber has an air inlet opening 30. An air outlet opening 31 leading from the plenum chamber 28 is shown in the top wall of the hood shell, but it could just as well be located in the back wall. A transition collar 32 is mounted in the air outlet opening 31 and it is adjustably mounted in a horizontal plane so that it may be shifted in a horizontal plane for making a mating engagement with exhaust ducting formed up I through the kitchen cabinet or back through the kitchen wall, as the case may be. The constructional details of this plenum chamber are described and claimed in my copending application Ser. No. 486,929, now Patent No. 3,292,524 entitled Exhaust Duct Connection for Ventilating Hood which was filed in the U.S. Patent Ofiice concurrently herewith.

The motor-blower unit 12 comprises an electric motor 34 having a vertical shaft 35 extending from the top thereof and on which is mounted a blower wheel 36. It will be understood however that other air moving devices could be used in place of the blower wheel. As is conventional in this art, the blower wheel comprises a plurality of spaced vertical vanes 37 fastened between an imperforate top end wall 38 and a bottom annular end wall 39. This annular end wall 39 has a large, central air inlet opening 40 for receiving the motor 34 therethrough so that about half of the motor 34 extends into the center of the blower wheel 36. This opening 40 is larger than the diameter of the motor so as to constitute an annular air inlet opening around the outside of the motor. In order to gain the best aerodynamic efficiency and performance a scroll-shaped blower housing 42 encompasses the blower wheel and hence the top portion of the motor. A bottom wall 43 of the blower housing, which is adjacent the bottom wall 39 of the blower wheel, is also provided with an enlarged central opening 44 to serve as an annular, air inlet opening that generally coincides with the air inlet opening 40- of the blower wheel.

Suitable radially spaced straps 45 are employed to support the motor 34 from the blower housing 42. These straps are of generally Z-shape having an inwardly directed top leg 46 welded to the top motor end ring 47, and an outwardly directed bottom leg 48 welded to a bottom housing end ring 49. The housing of the motor 34 is provided with a series of vertical studs 50 on the top end thereof for making a fastening connection with the end ring 47 using fastening nuts 51. Moreover, the larger, bottom end ring 49 is fastened to the bottom wall of the blower housing 42 by means of fastening screws 53.

A combined heat shield and cooling device 55 of sheet metal construction is positioned around the housing of the motor 34. The device has a large front sheet 54 closely adjacent the front side of the motor for shielding the front of the motor 34 from the hot gases being drawn into the shutter 22. The rear portion of the device 55 is of narrow height at the two sides and rear adjacent the annular opening 44 in the blower housing for drawing relatively cool air from the air channels 15 for passage around the outside of the motor housing before being mixed with the hot gases within the blower wheel. This cooling device 55 is provided with radial tabs 56 which extend under the fastening screws 53 and are assembled thereby. More details of this motor cooling device 55 are not given here for it does not form part of the present invention as it is being claimed in a companion application Ser. No. 486,928, now Patent No. 3,292,523, entitled Cooling Means for Blower Motor that was filed in the US. Patent Office concurrently herewith.

Looking at FIGURE 2 it will be clear that there is a telescopic engagement between the air inlet opening 30 of the plenum chamber 28 and an air exhaust duct 82 of the blower housing 42. This exhaust duct 82 in a scrollshaped blower housing configuration is a tangential duct of generally rectangular transverse cross-section which emanates from the periphery of the blower wheel in a direction which follows the direction of rotation of the blower wheel 36. The air inlet opening 30 of the plenum chamber is slightly larger than the transverse cross-section of the exhaust duct 82 of the blower housing so that under normal operating conditions the duct 82 is free-floating within the air inlet opening 30. In the event of abnormal vibration conditions which might cause the motor-blower unit to swing from the unit mounting means, suitable felt cushions 84 are positioned within the throat of the air inlet opening 30 so as to absorb the impact of the exhaust duct 82.

The above explanation has been given mainly as background information to describe the environment in which the present invention of a resilient mounting means for the motor-blower unit 12 is associated. This mounting means is identified above the motor-blower unit 12 in FIGURE 2 as element 60. First there is an elongated hanger bar 61 of hat-shaped transverse cross-section that is turned face down and welded or otherwise made integral with the top wall of the blower housing 42 in a line that generally overlies the center of gravity of the motorblower unit. This hanger bar 61 extends beyond the opposite sides of the blower housing 42 as is best seen in FIGURE 3. Cooperating with this hanger bar. 61 is a stationary supporting bar 63 which is shown of generally the same hat-shaped transverse cross-section as for the hanger bar, and extending for the same distance or more than the length of the hanger bar 61 as is shown in FIG- URE 3. This supporting bar is turned face up and preferably welded to the underside of the top wall of the hood shell 20.

Connecting means must be provided between the hanger bar 61 and the overlying supporting bar 63, and this is afforded by a pair of shouldered bolts 65, one at each end of the hanger bar 61, which may be quickly connected and disconnected from the supporting bar 63. Each bolt 65 has an enlarged head 67 at the lower end and a short length of screw threads 68 at the top end as is seen in FIGURE 3. The mid-section 69 of the bolt is of cylindrical shape, and it is surrounded by a coiled spring 70. Each end of the hanger bar 61 is provided with an enlarged opening 72 in which the bolt 65 is to'be loosely mounted. After the bolt 65 is inserted through the opening 72, a washer-like cap or retainer 74 is assembled on the threads '68. This retainer has a dished central portion to form a tapered plug 75, as is best seen in FIGURE 4. The coiled spring 70 is confined between the bolt head 67 at its bottom and the hanger bar 61 at its top, as is best seen in FIGURE 3. FIGURES 3 and 4 show the bottom-most Wall of the supporting bar 63 provided with a circular seat 76 for receiving the tapered plug 75 of the bolt retainer 74.

It is expedient to have a quick-connect and disconnect arrangement between the bolt retainer 74 and the seat 76 of the supporting bar 63. This feature is provided by a slot 78 cut in the front-most wall and bottom of the crown of the hat-shaped supporting bar 63 as is best seen in FIGURE 4. The shape of the slot 78 in the front-most wall of the bar 63 is of T-shape as at 78 as is best seen in FIGURE 3. This particular configuration is used to provide side detents 80 which will serve to prevent the bolt retainer 74 from inadvertently slipping out of the seat 76 of the slot 78.

Hence, in order to install the motor-blower unit 12 through the front wall opening 21 of the hood shell 20,

the unit is first grasped by the two hands of the installer at the ends of the hanger bar 61. Then the installer places his thumbs under the heads 67 of the two suspension bolts 65 to compress the coil springs 70 and raise the retainers 74 above the hanger bar 61. Then it is possible to slip the unit into the hood shell and to align each bolt retainer 74 with the T-shaped slot 78' in the supporting bar 63 and by continuing to move the bolts through the entrance slot 78 until the tapered plug 75 of the bolt retainer 74 can be lowered into the mating seat 76 of the supporting bar 63. When the hands of the installer are removed, the full Weight of the motor-blower unit 12 is resiliently supported by the two coil springs 70 at the opposite sides of the blower housing. It will be understood that when the unit is to be dissassembled for cleaning or servicing, the reverse motions are to be employed.

Modifications of this invention will occur to those skilled in this art, therefore, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed but that it is intended to cover all modifications which are within the true spirit and scope of this invention as claimed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An air handling unit comprising a combined motor and blower wheel, and a unit housing surrounding the blower wheel, a hanger member attached to the top portion of the housing, and an overhead supporting member, fastener means attached to the hanger member for suspending the unit from the supporting member, the fastener means including at least two suspension bolt members carried by the hanger member at the opposite sides of the blower housing, each bolt member including a compression spring beneath the hanger member and on which the weight of the unit is carried, and a retainer at the top end of the bolt, the supporting member having a seat for receiving each of said bolt retainers, and slot means in a side of the supporting member and communicating with each seat for the quick assembly and withdrawal of the bolt and its retainer with relation to its seat.

2. Mounting means for a combined motor-blower unit, a housing surrounding the blower, hanger means attached to the top portion of the housing and carrying a suspension bolt at the opposite sides of the housing, a compression spring surrounding each bolt beneath the hanger means for carrying the weight of the unit thereby, and a retainer fixed to the top portion of each suspension bolt, a fixed supporting member from which the unit is to be suspended, the supporting member including a seat for receiving each bolt retainer therein, and side slotted means formed in the supporting member as an access means for each bolt and retainer to the mating retainer seat, and means for confining each bolt retainer from moving inadvertently off of its seat.

3. Resilient mounting means for a motor and blower unit, said unit having a scroll-shaped housing surrounding the blower, hanger means attached to the top portion of the blower housing, and a stationary supporting member from which the unit is to be suspended, the hanger means supporting a vertical suspension bolt at opposite sides of the housing, a spring surrounding each bolt beneath the hanger means and serving as a resilient support means to carry the weight of the unit, the top portion of each bolt having a fixed cap, the said supporting member having a mating seat for the cap of each suspension bolt, and slotted access means in the supporting member for each bolt and its cap to reach the mating seat.

4. A kitchen hood comprising a hood shell and a motor-blower unit resiliently mounted Within the shell, the unit including a blower wheel provided with a motor drive as well as a scroll-shaped housing surrounding the blower wheel, an elongated hanger bar attached to the top por tion of the blower housing, an elongated supporting bar located within the hood shell, and resilient fastening means for suspending the unit from the supporting bar, said fastening means including a vertical suspension bolt carried at each end of the hanger bar, a compression spring surrounding each bolt beneath the hanger bar, the top end of each bolt having an enlarged cap, the supporting bar having a seat with a slotted side entrance for each bolt and its cap for hanging the bolts and hence the motorblower unit from the supporting bar within the hood shell, and detent means for preventing the inadvertent separation of the suspension bolt from the supporting bar.

5. A kitchen hood comprising a hood shell with an open front wall, movable and removable shutter means for closing said front wall, the hood being equipped with a motor-blower unit, and resilient mounting means for suspending the unit within the hood shell, an elongated hanger bar attached to the top portion of the said unit, an elongated supporting bar fixed within the hood shell, said resilient mounting means including a vertical suspension bolt loosely carried at each end of the hanger bar, a spring on each bolt beneath the hanger bar and serving as a resilient support means supporting the weight of the unit, the top portion of each bolt having an enlarged head, the supporting bar having a seat for each bolt head and a forwardly extending slot communicating with the said seat for allowing each suspension bolt and its bolt head to gain entrance to the respective seat, the motor-blower unit being installed in the hood shell through the front wall thereof when the said shutter means is removed.

6. A kitchen hood as recited in claim 5 wherein the said hanger bar overlies the center of gravity of the mo tor-blower unit so that the unit is suspended in a balanced condition.

7. A kitchen hood comprising a hood shell that is adapted to be mounted on the top wall of an eye-level oven, an opening in the front wall of the hood shell, a shutter mounted in said front wall opening and being movable between a closed position and an open position, removable fastening means for the disassembly of the shutter from the shell, the hood shell including a plenum chamber adjacent the rear of the shell, the plenum chamber having an air inlet opening and an air exhaust opening, a motor and blower unit located within the shell, said unit having a scroll-shaped housing with a bottom wall inlet opening and an exhaust duct that is loosely arranged within the air inlet opening of the plenum chamber, resilient mounting means for the motor and blower unit, said mounting means including hanger means attached to the top portion of the unit housing and a Stationary supporting member fixed with respect to the hood shell and from which the motor and blower unit is to be suspended, the hanger means including a pair of loosely held suspension bolts arranged at opposite sides of the housing in a line substantially overlying the center of gnavity of the unit, a spring carried by each bolt beneath the hanger means and adapted as a resilient support means to carry the weight of the unit, and a quick-connect means for hanging each suspension bolt from the said supporting member of the hood shell.

'8. A kitchen hood as recited in claim 7 wherein the top portion of each suspension bolt has an enlarged head, and the supporting member has a seat for each bolt head and a side entrance slot for allowing each bolt and bolt head to gain access to its mating seat.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 809,356 1/1906 Brown 230257 X 1,858,817 5/1932 Carrey 2302'35 X 2,028,584 1/ 1936 Bixler 230-235 2,046,511 7/ 193 6 Guth 248--1 8 2,287,203 6/1942 Smith 230235 X 2,828,683 4/ 1958 Joseph et a1 2-30-1'17 X 2,930,556 3/1960 Horlacher 230-235 X 3,035,761 5/ 1962 Kinsworthy 98-115 MEYER PER'LIN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, Examiner.

M. A. ANTONAKAS, Assistant Examiner. 

4. A KITCHEN HOOD COMPRISING A HOOD SHELL AND A MOTOR-BLOWER UNIT RESILIENTLY MOUNTED WITHIN THE SHELL, THE UNIT INCLUDING A BLOWER WHEEL PROVIDED WITH A MOTOR DRIVE AS WELL AS A SCROLL-SHAPED HOUSING SURROUNDING THE BLOWER WHEEL, AN ELONGATED HANGER BAR ATTACHED TO THE TOP PORTION OF THE BLOWER HOUSING, AN ELONGATED SUPPORTING BAR LOCATED WITHIN THE HOOD SHELL, AND RESILIENT FASTENING MEANS FOR SUSPENDING THE UNIT FROM THE SUPPORTING BAR, SAID FASTENING MEANS INCLUDING A VERTICAL SUSPENSION BOLT CARRIED AT EACH END OF THE HANGER BAR A COMPRESSION SPRING SURROUNDING EACH BOLT BENEATH THE HANGER BAR, THE TOP END OF EACH BOLT HAVING AN ENLARGED CAP, THE SUPPORTING BAR HAVING A SEAT WITH A SLOTTED SIDE ENTRANCE FOR EACH BOLT AND ITS CAP FOR HANGING THE BOLTS AND HENCE THE MOTORBLOWER UNIT FROM THE SUPPORTING BAR WITHIN THE HOOD SHELL, AND DETENT MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE INADVERTENT SEPARATION OF THE SUSPENSION BOLT FROM THE SUPPORT BAR. 